The prior art discloses a range of units for use in the preparation of wood blocks for finger jointing. U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,465 to Nowakowski discloses a system for automatically determining the end profiles of blocks and rejecting blocks with unacceptable profiles; U.S. Pat. No. 3,856,061 to Miles and U.S. Pat. No. 6,705,190 to Newnes disclose methods for cutting lumber to specified lengths; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,173,829 to Jackson et al discloses a circulating paddle positioning fence.